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Monday, January 4, 2016

Lifetime Achievement Award - Dr. Jeffrey L. Forgeng

I was surprised and honored this week to learn that I have been selected for a Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the 2015 HEMA Scholar Awards. I’ve been researching Historical European Martial Arts since about 1990, before the field truly came into being. My work on Royal Armouries Manuscript I.33, the oldest surviving swordfighting treatise, played a big part in my appointment as Paul S. Morgan Curator at the Higgins Armory in 1999. Since then I’ve seen HEMA burgeon into a major international phenomenon—I can recognize at least four different countries on the panel responsible for the awards. Our world-class historical combat program at the Armory was among my proudest achievements during my time there, and I’m happy to say that we are continuing to build on that legacy in the Higgins Collection’s new home here at the Worcester Art Museum. Swordplay classes are currently offered here every weekend, and this summer we will offer a rare opportunity for visitors to see both an original copy of Joachim Meyer’s combat treatise of 1570, and a fencing longsword of the type illustrated in Meyer’s book.